Car-coupling



(No Model.)

B. WALDRON.

GAR COUPLING. No. 391,098. v Patented Oct. 16, 1888.

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N. PETERS, Phom-umn n mr, Washmgmn, D4 (1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEQ EDWVIN WALDRON, OF COBLESKILL, NE\V YORK.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391,098, dated October 16, 1888.

Application filed February 7, 1888. Serial No. 263,275. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN WALDRoN, of Oobleskill, in the county of Schoharie and State of New York, have invented new and useful Iniprovementsin Car-Gouplers,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mechanism for coupling together a series of railway-cars to form trains; andthe object of my invention is to provide a simple and reliable coupler by which the operation of coupling cars can be effected automatically. This object I attain by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which are herein referred to and form part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is alongitudinal section of the drawheads of apair of my couplers connected to gether, with the draw-bars and coupling eyes shown in elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a pair of my couplers connected together. Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section of one ofmy couplers,with thedraw-bar and couplingeye shown in side elevation; and Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the bumper of the drawhead at the line X X on Fig. 3.

As represented in the drawings, A designates the draw-head of my coupler, which is made in a b0X llkB form and is provided with a bumper, 1, at its outer end and a centrallyperforated end piece, 2, at its inner end. Said bumper has a vertical slot, 3, formed for its own coupling-eye, and a transverse enlargement, 4, of said slot for the reception of the coupling-eye of another coupler. In the bottom plate of said draw-head there is a slotted opening, 5,forapurposehereinafter explained.

B is a draw bar formed of two like side bars, 6, which are preferably connected together by a cross-piece, 7, to operate as a single piece. The inner end of said draw-bar is connected to a draw-bolt, O, which projects rearwardly through the perforation of the end pieee,2,and is then surrounded by a spring, 8, that is arranged to operate in the usual manner of coupler-springs. The draw-bar B is pivoted by a pin, 9, to the draw-bolt 0, so as to vibrate in a vertical plane when occasion requires it.

D is the coupling-eye,provided with an arm, 10, by which said eye is connected by means ofapivot-pin, 11, to the outerend of the drawbar B. The inner end of the arm of the coupling-eye has an inclined face,12,against which, when said conpling-eye'is in an erect position and the drawbar in a horizontal position, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, the coupling-eye of another coupler with which'a connection is to be made will strike and thereby raise the outer end of the draw-bar B, to permit the coupling-eye of the second coupler to pass under and form a connection therewith. The inner end of the coupling-eye D is also formed into a hook, 13, which enters the opening of the coupling-eye of a connecting coupler, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, to effect the locking together of two conjoining couplers. Preferably the couplingeye D is held in its erect position by means of a latch-bar, 14, having both a swinging and a sliding movement, and for that purpose said latch-bar is pivoted to a cam-shaft, 15,provided with a cam,16,whieh is arranged in an arched top opening formed in the pivoted end of said latch-bar in such manner that when said cam is turned in one direction said latch-bar will be moved forward to engage under aretainer, l7, and when the cam is turned in the opposite direction said latch-bar will be retracted from said retainer and left free to be swung over into the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. \Vhen the coupling-eye D is raised into its erect position,its arm will pass into the slot3 of the draw-head A of the coupler to which it belongs.

E is a toggle joint, which is inserted in the slotted opening 5 of the draw-head and whose lower member is secured to a shaft, 18, that should extend to the side or both sides of a car and there be provided with a crank-handle, 19, by which said shaft may be rocked when occasion requires. The upper member of said toggle-joint is provided with a slotted opening, 20, through which a cross-pin, 21, secured in the draw-bar 13, passes. The joint-pin 22 of said toggle-joint is arranged out of a direct line with the centers of the shaft 18 and cross-pin 21, so that a shouldered rule-joint will be formed between the two members of said togglejoint, and thereby all liability of said toggle-joint being flexed by any jarring or jolting of the cars will be avoided.

The coupling-eye D is maintained in position when extended in line with the draw-bar B, as shown in the right-hand coupler of the pair shown in Fig. 1, by its hook 13,which engages under the crosspiece 7 forthat purpose.

The operation of my coupler is as follows: The couplers being separated from each other, with the coupling-eye of one in an erect position, the draw-bar B being in a horizontal position, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, and thecoupling-eye ofthecouplerto which the connection is to be made being extended, as shown in the right-hand coupler of the pair shown in Fig. 1, the extended coupling-eye of the coupler last referred to is brought forcibly into contact with the inclined face 12 of the erect coupling-eye, and thereby the outer end of the draw-bar to which the last-named coup- 1ing-eye is attached will be raised to permit the incoming coupling-eye to pass under the lower end'of the erect coupling-eye, and as soon as the last-named movement is accomplished the outer end of said draw-bar will drop to carry the hook 13 of its attached coupling-eye into the opening of the coupling-eye which has just entered, as last described, and the connection of the two couplers is in this manner completed. To disconnect a pair of my couplers, the shaft 18 of the coupler whose coupling-eye D is standing in an erect position is turned to bring its attached toggle-j oint E into'a straight line, as shown by the full lines of Fig. 3. Thereby the outerend of the draw-bar will be raised to release the hook 13 from the coupling-eye of the other coupler and leave the pair of couplers free to be separated from each other.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a car-coupler, the combination of a draw-head having a vertically-slotted opening in its outer end, a draw-bar pivoted at its inner end to a draw-bolt, so as to swing in a ver- I tical plane within said draw-head, and a coupling-eye provided at its inner end with an in-' clined face and a hooked projection, said coupling-eye being pivoted to the outer end of the draw-bar, so as to swing in a vertical plane into and out of the vertically-slotted opening of said draw-head, as and for the purpose for the reception of said coupling-eye when I the latter is raised to an erect position, and a locking device fixed to the outer end of said draw-head, whereby said coupling-eye can be secured in its erect position,as and for the purpose herein Specified.'

3. In a car-coupler, the combination of a draw-head having in its outer end a verticallyslotted opening which extends into the upper side of its bumper, a draw-bar pivoted at its inner end to a draw-bolt, so as to swing in a vertical plane, a coupling-eye pivoted to the outer end of said draw-bar to swing into said vertically-slotted opening of the draw-head, and a togglejoint connected to the swinging end of said draw-bar for the purpose of lifting and securing the latter in its raised position, all being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as herein specified.

. EDWIN WALDRON.

Witnesses:

GEO. M. SHAFER, J. N. BUssELL. 

